In typical household kitchens, it is common to use a dish rack adjacent to the kitchen sink for the collection of wet dishes or other items after the manual washing of the dishes in the sink. Typically, the dishes are rinsed and placed in the rack to air dry. The bottom of the rack is usually slotted to allow water to be drained off the dishes.
A mat or tray made of rubber or plastic is generally used in conjunction with the rack for the purpose of collecting the water drained off the dishes. While such products are accepted in the common trade, several shortcomings prevent existing rack and tray sets from satisfying some basic consumer needs.
For example, the draining trays under the currently used dish racks are very shallow, such that the discharge from washed dishes easily overflows over the edges and spills over onto the counter and generally under the tray. Unfortunately, the water accumulating under the rack and the tray which often contains leftover food particles can result in rot or mildew and create bacteria or other unsanitary conditions.
It would also be desirable for all the water drained from the dishes to be automatically and directly deposited into an adjacent sink, so that the dishes and the countertop area underneath the rack remain fully dry, avoiding any possible health hazards.